Prototype First

Prototype risky steps early instead of discovering failure in the middle of implementation.

When To Use

• A plan contains an unclear or high-risk step.
• Multiple implementation strategies seem plausible.
• Success depends on interacting subsystems, external tools, packages, or flaky libraries.
• A bug fix already required several attempts.
• The next change may force meaningful plan changes if the assumption is wrong.

Default Approach

• Isolate the risky assumption.
• Run the smallest useful prototype or spike that can confirm or reject the approach.
• Capture only the useful outcome: chosen approach, key rejected approaches when relevant, constraints, and required setup.
• Update the plan if needed, then proceed with real implementation.